Former FIFA chief Sepp Blatter pleaded his innocence alongside French football icon Michel Platini, 2.5 years after they were both cleared of fraud in the wake of the “FIFAGate scandal.” They appeared in a Swiss court on Monday.
Blatter and Platini were found not guilty in 2022 at a lower Swiss court after a seven-year investigation into a payment of 2 million Swiss francs to Platini. However, the Swiss federal prosecutor appealed against that decision, resulting in a new hearing at the Extraordinary Appeals Chamber of the Swiss Criminal Court in Muttenz.
As reported by Reuters, the 2022 indictment accused Blatter and Platini of deceiving FIFA staff in 2010 and 2011 about an obligation for FIFA to pay Platini, who was president of the sport's European governing body UEFA at the time.
Platini worked as an advisor to Blatter between 1998 and 2002. Platini received the payment for consultancy services given to FIFA. However, the transaction took place more than eight years after the end of his contract, which raised suspicions.
“They falsely claimed that FIFA owed Platini, or that Platini was entitled to, the sum of 2 million Swiss francs for advisory work. This deception was achieved through repeated untruthful claims made by both accused parties,” the indictment stated.
According to Platini's lawyers, FIFA's financial situation at the time did not allow the payment to be made until several years later in 2011.
However, FIFA suspended Blatter and Platini in 2015 for ethics breaches, initially for eight years, although their exclusions were later reduced. As a result of this indictment, Platini’s hopes of becoming the next FIFA chief were ruined. Blatter was forced to step down.
Blatter and Platini were cleared in 2022 after a judge accepted that their account of a “gentlemen's agreement” for the payment was valid. The judge also said serious doubts existed about the prosecution's allegation that it was fraudulent.
Despite this, the Swiss prosecutor called for the previous verdict of not guilty to be set aside completely in a new hearing. The prosecutor is seeking a sentence of 20 months, suspended for two years, against Blatter and Platini. It is also reported that the potential sentence for both could be up to five years in prison if the initial verdict is not upheld.
88-year-old Blatter responded to the Swiss prosecutor with: “When you talk about falsehoods, lies and deception, that's not me. That didn't exist in my whole life. We had principles in my family - we take only money we have earned. I am innocent.”
Blatter also expressed that he was “very positive” before the trial.
Platini, aged 69, is being represented by lawyer Dominic Nellen. Nellen voiced: “The court of first instance was right to find that the disputed payment of 2 million francs was lawful.”
Giovanni Infantino, current FIFA president, was also involved in this case. However, he was cleared of any wrongdoing in his own trial in 2023. Despite this, the fact that he was previously featured makes this case even more problematic.
A ruling will likely be made on March 25.
